This week, the service was prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Jerusalem
Reflection text
Jerusalem, a city of conflict and a city of Pentecost
Pastoral letter from Cardinal Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem)
https://www.lpj.org/en/news/letter-to-the-diocese
« What is the Lord asking of us at this moment ? And how do we express our faith in this difficult context, both in words and in actions ? […] How, as Christians, as a church community, can we live amid this situation of conflict—political, military, and spiritual—which we know will continue for many years to come? It has now become an integral part of church life, of the everyday existence of each one of us. Unfortunately, it is now part of the culture of this land. It is therefore not a moment to be overcome, but the place where our Church is called to carry out its specific mission as a community of believers in Christ.
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The first city mentioned in the Bible is built by Cain (Gen 4:17). After killing his brother, he builds a refuge: a place meant to set a limit to violence, where he can attempt to rebuild lost fraternal relations. In Scripture, the city thus arises as a human attempt to restore coexistence where relationships have been shattered. The last city in the Bible, by contrast, is the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven (Rev. 21–22). Between these two poles – the city-refuge built by humanity out of fear, and the city-gift that descends from God out of love – the whole story of salvation unfolds.
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This tension runs throughout Scripture and is uniquely focused on Jerusalem. No other city in the Bible receives so much love and so much rebuke, so much promise and so much condemnation. This same tension […] also inhabits the Church that was born in Jerusalem.
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In this city, the various Christian denominations share space and time, resulting in an imperfect but vital journey toward the unity of believers. Through different rites and languages, celebrated in the same places and lived within our families, these churches offer a living image of what occurred in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost: different peoples gathered in the same Spirit. Just as the Apostles then set out to proclaim the Gospel to all nations, so today these communities, rooted in the same place and often within the same families, are called to rediscover full communion in faith and charity »
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and the circumstances
Father of all believers, thank you for the feasts of these past days: Shavuot, the Feast of Firstfruits and a commemoration of the gift of the Torah at Sinai; Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit celebrated by Catholics last Sunday and by Orthodox Christians next Sunday; and Eid al-Adha, a commemoration of the sacrifice of Ishmael for Muslims. May these feasts open our hearts to gratitude and joy in the face of the richness of our differences.
Jesus, Son of God, you know this Holy Land and its suffering, its beauty, and its hope, which seems to be fading. Come and make your home in our hearts, so that we may renounce all idolatry of the earth and any justification of violence in your name.
Holy Spirit, defender of the poor, we entrust to you the victims of war, especially those affected by the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and Gaza despite the ceasefires. We pray for a peace rooted in justice and for a reawakening of consciences in this world: come and heal the wounds and grant your peace, which is just and lasting.
Prayer for Christian unity
Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen!
(Prayer written by members of the Chemin Neuf Community
inspired by a prayer of Father Paul Couturier)